This year’s event saw a huge turnout with over 200 people in attendance.  The event was run by a core group of staff supported by a large team of volunteers who helped make the meals possible.  Food was served on Be Green Packaging’s compostable and recyclable plates, cups, and containers which the company donates throughout the year in support of the Soup Kitchen’s missions/events.

The Soup Kitchen’s efforts are not limited solely to providing meals on the holidays.  The organization also runs a number of programs that seek to educate and help low income/at-risk families.  Find out more about their philanthropic efforts here.

Founder Anthony Carroccio is looking to expand the organizations efforts across Southern California by making the Organic Soup Kitchen concept mobile.  He hopes to raise $40,000-$50,000 this year to purchase a truck to execute this concept.

“We want to get this process blueprinted so it works for everyone,” Carroccio said. “So it can be duplicated across the state of California and across the nation.”

Raw food chef, Matthew Kenney and TED Senior Fellow and LA Philharmonic Violinist Robert Gupta were among this years speakers, of which there were six total. By all accounts, the event was a resounding success.

Food was served throughout the event on Be Green Packaging’s innovative, compostable and recyclable plant fiber plates and trays.

The events organizers intend to make this yearly event a staple of the community here in Santa Barbara.

This November, the Organic Soup Kitchen organized its annual Thanksgiving meal for the masses.  Although the non-profit organization gears its efforts towards providing healthy, organic meals to the homeless, all are truly welcome.  The organization works with local businesses such as Lazy Acres Market to procure donations of organic food items to be distributed to the community.  Over 100 people volunteered to help at this years event which hosted approximately 500 people.

Be Green Packaging wholeheartedly supports the Organic Soup Kitchen and its mission of providing nourishing, organic food to all.  The company donated plates, trays, and cups for this years event.

Founder Anthony Carroccio is looking to expand the organizations efforts across Southern California by making the Organic Soup Kitchen concept mobile.  He hopes to raise $40,000-$50,000 this year to purchase a truck to execute this concept.

“We want to get this process blueprinted so it works for everyone,” Carroccio said. “So it can be duplicated across the state of California and across the nation.”

Whole Foods Market seafood sustainability guide

There are few issues of greater importance to humanity than the health of the world’s oceans.  Covering just over 70% of the Earth’s surface, oceans are the most significant geological feature on the planet.  According to the UN, over 200 million people are completely dependent on fishing as a source of livelihood and nourishment.  Therefore, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s estimate that “…over 70% of the world’s fish species are either fully exploited or depleted” is nothing short of alarming.  Although many in the West are aware that our oceans (and subsequently fish) are highly polluted with heavy metals, the issue of overfishing is seldom cited as a significant problem.  Nick Nuttall, the Head of Media Services for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), states that, “The magnitude of the problem of overfishing is often overlooked, given the competing claims of deforestation, desertification, energy resource exploitation and other biodiversity depletion dilemmas”.

Greenpeace, one of the world’s largest environmental NGO’s, has made a major attempt to correct the situation through its annual Carting Away the Oceans Report.  Often referred to as CATO, the report seeks to provide a window of transparency into the policies and programs of the nations largest seafood retailers.  The report measures the performance of various supermarket chains and suppliers in five categories: Rating, Policy, Initiatives, Transparency, and Red List Sales.  An overall score is then generated to provide a ranking system for the companies profiled.

Seafood packaged in Be Green trays.

One of Be Green Packaging’s biggest customers, Whole Foods Market, has consistently ranked highly on the CATO list (top 5), and this year is no exception. Whole Foods has earned its spot by maintaining stringent guidelines concerning where and how it sources its seafood and by simultaneously maintaining transparency in its operations.  In the report, Greenpeace states, “Whole Foods Market is among the most progressive members in the US seafood retail sector.”

Not mentioned in Greenpeace’s CATO report, however, is the fact that Whole Food’s takes its sustainable vision one step farther than the rest of the competition by packaging its seafood in Be Green Packaging’s compostable and recyclable trays, which are manufactured entirely from wild harvested plant fibers such as bamboo and bulrush.  The two companies began working together in early 2008 on trays for the prepared foods department and the collaboration proved to be so successful that Whole Foods has since integrated Be Green’s packaging into other departments in their stores, such as meat, produce, and seafood.

“What I like about the Be Green trays [are] the quality of [them]“, commented Ramiro Delgadio, Team Leader of the Seafood Department at Whole Foods Santa Monica store.  ”They’re way better than the foam [trays].  Working at Whole Foods market you want something that will go in to the compost… you know its been recycled.  Thats’s the best thing about it.  You know, we’re living… what Be Green is.”

Whole Foods was initially attracted to Be Green Packaging due to their extensive list of 3rd party environmental and social certifications, which were in step with the company’s own efforts to go above and beyond the current standards in the supermarket industry.

This year saw Whole Foods market capture the #4 position on the list.  The company dropped one spot from last years high of #3.  However, it is important to note that this is not due to a lowering of the company’s standards, but rather a comparative increase in the stringency of its competitors standards. In fact, Greenpeace points out that “Although [Whole Foods] has dropped to #4 in this update of the Carting Away the Oceans project, the chain is poised to potentially recapture the top spot.”  This is due to recently announced plans by the company to stop selling all “red-listed” seafood by Earth Day 2012.  A “red listing” refers to any species of fish which has a “…very high risk of being sourced from unsustainable fisheries.”, as judged by Greenpeace, which created the standard.

Greenpeace went on to commend the company regarding its ‘Sustainable Seafood Policy’ stating:

 ”Whole Foods maintains the strongest and most complex sourcing policy of any of the twenty retailers examined within the context of this report. While there is still room for improvement, Whole Foods’ policy is indeed at the front of the pack in terms of its comprehensive and science-based nature.”

Other high-ranking companies in this years report are Safeway (#1), Target and Wegmans (tied for #2), and Ahold (#5).  Along with Whole Foods, these companies are pioneering a new precedent in sustainable seafood by allowing consumers to make educated choices and to vote with their wallets every time they shop.

To mark the occasion, we have gathered a few photos of the plant, which is coming along beautifully.

Claude Dorias, President, Unite to Light gave an emotional talk on his company’s efforts to bring portable solar lighting to some of the most impoverished regions of Africa.  The lights (pictured below), were designed by some of the brightest minds at UCSB and have survived rigorous testing in a range of harsh conditions.  The organization is in its first year and has already distributed over 10,000 lights.  For more information and to order click here.

The final speaker of the morning, Megan Birney, CEC Renewable Energy Specialist, presented the latest brainchild of the CEC, the “Community Supported Solar” program.  The program is an innovative approach to overcoming barriers that have so far impeded the wider adoption of solar panels, especially by non-profit organizations.  Essentially, the CEC will be backing medium to large-scale solar installations in Santa Barbara (and potentially in neighboring counties) with the support of philanthropic investors, thereby side-stepping some of the larger issues associated with the construction of these arrays.

For more information on the CEC and its various programs, visit them on the web at www.cecsb.org

Be Green Packaging is a proud supporter of the CEC.

- Justin Faerman

Opportunity Green 2011 Highlight Reel from Opportunity Green on Vimeo.

Among this years speakers and attendees were Be Green CEO Ron Blitzer, who spoke on a panel about the sustainable packaging industry/market and what it means to be a triple bottom line company in todays marketplace.

Download the report here: 2011 Sustainability Report

This years report covers the progress attained during the preceding (2009-2010) fiscal year.  In this period, the company reported improvement in nearly all of the 20 different parameters measured covering social, environmental, and economic goals.  Steps taken this past year include the hiring of independent, 3rd-party organizations such as AIB (American Institute of Baking) and Intertek to conduct internal food safety and workplace conditions audits and the reduction of shipping waste by switching to 100% post-consumer recycled cartons, among others.  The company is currently working towards various long-term goals such as achieving zero-net carbon emissions from production, expanding its eco-advisory board, and acquiring additional environmental and social/workplace responsibility certifications from various independent organizations.

“This report is a way for us to integrate internal operations and external sales and marketing,” stated Megan Havrda, Chairwoman of Be Green’s Eco-Advisory Board. “We hope that it will provide the public with a comprehensive understanding of our company’s values and efforts to adhere to and further the triple bottom line philosophy in our industry.”

In July of this year, Be Green announced that it would be opening the first plant fiber packaging manufacturing facility in the United States in Ridgeland, South Carolina.  Governor Nikki Haley and Senator Clemente Pinckney made a visit to the 90,000-sq. ft. facility to welcome the company to the state and acknowledge the significant green job creation efforts that will accompany the plants’ development.

As of Sept. 1st, 2011, warehousing and distribution operations have begun, with manufacturing operations expected to begin Quarter I 2012.  CEO Ron Blitzer’s vision for the plant includes extensive sourcing of pulp from the local farms and suppliers in the surrounding communities and efforts to make the facility as close to 100% waste-free as possible.  Data from the upcoming plant will be integrated into Be Green’s upcoming 2012 Sustainability Report.

Be Green Packaging LLC, based in Santa Barbara, Calif., manufactures and distributes Cradle to Cradle^cm certified, tree-free, compostable packaging for the food and consumer packaging industries. The company’s products are made from annually renewable plant fibers that are safe for people and healthy for the planet. For more information about the company, please visit www.begreenpackaging.com.